I spend a lot of time in Central Park, so I was thrilled that this was our field trip, especially on such a beautiful day. I have a new respect and understanding of Central Park since beginning this class. I read about it several times in Devil in a White City, and have heard you discuss it as well. I didn’t realize that the lakes were man made, I just thought they were natural. I nanny a boy on the Upper West Side and he goes to school on the Upper East Side so I have scootered many times all the way through the park early in the morning when it is still relatively quiet, and when the air is crisp and fresh. He also came up with nicknames for different parts of our scooter path. I grew up in Upstate New York in the middle of nowhere, so I always find myself craving nature. I spend as much time outside before that isn’t really an option anymore. I was really intrigued when you explained that the paths were made twisty so people would get “lost” so they would feel like there was more land than there actually was. It makes the park more of an experience than just a plot of land, so that people will hopefully forget the hustle and bustle that was just beyond the trees. Central Park is designed nature, curated to feel like nature. 
We then made our way to the Obelisk, which was outside of the original MET. I learned that it is a single piece of granite with hieroglyphs carved into the stone. It was created in 300BC in Egypt. I can’t imagine people creating this, especially without modern day tools and transportation. It’s incredible. It’s crazy that it was floated down the Hudson River, and then New York City created a special railway just to get it from the Hudson to its current home. 
On our way to the MET, I learned that where the MET was put, was where there were villages of homeless people, primarily people of color as well as former slaves. The people trying to put the MET there used discriminatory language to start the crusade to get them moved. I also learned that the original MET was actually in Central Park, faced south, and contained a lot of Greek sculptures that were actually fake.
This is a picture of the original facade.
I think it is cool that they not only paid homage to the original structure, but also didn’t let all those materials and money go to waste. I learned that keeping the original entrance in the museum is referred to as palimpsest.
This picture is another example of palimpsest. It is the facade of the Branch Bank of the United States.
I took this while we were all waiting on the second floor overlooking the lobby. I liked how it showed the Greek/Roman influence.
I thought this was so beautiful. It was called Mourning Victory, sculpted in marble. 
This is a sculpture in gild bronze of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon. I just thought it was so beautiful. It was originally a functioning rotating weathervane for the tower of Madison Square Garden.
The rooftop is where we finished our trip for the day. I loved just discussing the things we were seeing, instead of it feeling like I was being told what I should be interested in.
In total I walked about 7.5 miles that day.